Everybody is cordially invited to an IBIO research talk on Thursday 15th of May at 15:30 at IBIO Room 001.
Title: Towards chemogenetic control of non-human primate brain networks
Guest: Dr. Michael Ortiz-Rios, Functional Imaging Laboratory, Deutsches Primatenzentrum
Michael intends to spend the day with us in Magdeburg. If you would like to meet up with him, please get in touch with Nicole Zenker.
Abstract: Social interactions in primates often involve vocal communication and active vision, behaviours which depend on large-scale neuronal systems for perception, emotion, cognition and action. A systematic dissection of such circuitry via optogenetic or chemogenetic control of neural activity might reveal the mechanisms behind these emergent complex circuit interactions in non-human primates. For this talk, I will review recent work combining high-field MRI with optogenetics for mapping visual circuits in the macaque monkey. Additionally, I will present paradigms for visual and auditory mapping of the macaque and marmoset brain, and highlight a graph theoretical approach for detecting changes in brain networks. Implementing a similar connectivity approach during chemogenetic treatment might aid in developing circuit interventions for treating cognitive and affective dysregulation, often affecting social behavior in humans with neuropsychiatric disorders.